Passgate structures for use in low-voltage applications

ABSTRACT

Enhanced passgate structures for use in low-voltage systems are presented in which the influence of V t  on the range of signals passed by single-transistor passgates is reduced. In one arrangement, the V GATE −V t  limit for signals propagated through NMOS passgates is raised by applying a higher V GATE ; in another arrangement, the V t  is lowered. The use of CMOS passgates in applications where single-transistor passgates have traditionally been used is also presented.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/225,585, filed Aug. 16, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to integrated circuit devices, and moreparticularly to the passgate structures which may be used in suchdevices.

One of the most ubiquitous structures within an integrated circuitdevice is the single-transistor passgate, which is commonly used toimplement (either singly or in combination with other circuits)switches, multiplexers, logic functions (e.g., pass transistor logic),and gating mechanisms for tristatable circuits (e.g., buffers anddrivers). In some integrated circuit devices, single-transistor passgatestructures may account for a significant portion of the circuitry; forexample, in the case of programmable logic devices, single-transistorpassgates are used extensively throughout the device as part of theprogrammable interconnection circuitry.

The operation of a typical single-transistor passgate may be succinctlyillustrated by a description of an NMOS passgate (analogous principlesof operation, as understood by one skilled in the art, would apply for aPMOS passgate). Depending on whether the potential difference betweenits gate terminal, V_(GATE), and its source terminal, V_(SOURCE),exceeds the threshold voltage, V_(t), an NMOS passgate acts as an “open”or a “closed” switch. (As is well-known in the art, there is no physicaldifference between the “source” and “drain” terminals of an MOS device;the source terminal of an NMOS transistor is the terminal having thelower voltage.) When V_(GATE)−V_(SOURCE) is less than V_(t), the NMOSpassgate is in the “cutoff” state, thereby acting as an “open” switch;when V_(GATE)−V_(SOURCE) is greater than V_(t), the NMOS passgate is inthe conduction state, thereby acting as a “closed” switch.

Accordingly, a ceiling is imposed on the output of an NMOS passgate inthat it cannot exceed V_(GATE)−V_(t) (since the NMOS passgate starts toenter the “cutoff” mode when V_(GATE)−V_(SOURCE) approaches V_(t)). Forexample, when V_(GATE) and a logic HIGH signal to be passed by an NMOSpassgate both correspond to the positive supply level, V_(DD), thesignal that may be passed to the output of the NMOS passgate is limitedto V_(DD)−V_(t). Extending the analysis to the case of PMOS passgates, alower limit equal to |V_(t)| is imposed on logic LOW signals that may bepassed. (As is well-known in the art, V_(t) is not a discrete value foran MOS transistor; it may be considered a range of values that isinfluenced by a variety of second-order effects, such as substrate biasand subthreshold conduction. However, in order to simplify theillustration of the principles of the present invention, V_(t) will bediscussed herein as if it is a discrete value rather than a range ofvalues.)

With the current trend in scaling down device geometries and theconsequent use of ever-lower operating voltages (e.g., supply voltages,bias voltages, etc.), which are nearing levels comparable to V_(t), theability of single-transistor passgate structures to reliably passrecognizable logic levels will become more difficult in view of theinfluence V_(t) exerts on the logic levels that may be propagated (i.e.,the V_(GATE)−V_(t) ceiling imposed on the logic HIGH voltage levels thatare passed by NMOS passgates, and the |V_(t)| lower limit on the logicLOW signals that are passed by PMOS passgates).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to enhanced passgate structures for use inlow-voltage systems. In accordance with the principles of the presentinvention, various techniques are presented for mitigating the effect ofV_(t) on the range of signals that may be propagated throughsingle-transistor passgates. Although the techniques described hereinare illustrated using NMOS passgates, they may be readily adapted toPMOS structures.

In one arrangement, the V_(GATE)−V_(t) limit imposed on the logic HIGHsignals passed by NMOS passgates may be raised by applying higherV_(GATE) levels, which may be provided from a variety of sources.Alternatively, the V_(GATE)−V_(t) ceiling may be raised by loweringV_(t) via process adjustments during fabrication and/or by tuning thebiasing voltage of the well in which the passgate is fabricated.

Also, the use of CMOS passgates in applications where single-transistorpassgates have traditionally been used is presented.

Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantageswill be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the followingdetailed description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an enhanced passgate structurewhich may be constructed in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified illustration of an aspect of an integratedcircuit device which may be fabricated in accordance with the principlesof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified illustration of an aspect of another integratedcircuit device which may be fabricated in accordance with the principlesof the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of another enhanced passgatestructure which may be constructed in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an aspect of the enhanced passgate structure of FIG.4 in greater detail.

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a passgate structure which maybe used in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a programmable logic device.

FIG. 8 illustrates how an aspect of the programmable logic device ofFIG. 7 may be improved in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram of an illustrative system thatincludes an integrated circuit device which has been improved inaccordance with the principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

For the purpose of simplifying the discussion of the principles of thepresent invention, the techniques and embodiments described herein willfocus on NMOS passgates. However, the principles illustrated herein areapplicable to similar arrangements involving PMOS passgates.

FIG. 1 illustrates one arrangement for reducing the effect of V_(t) onthe range of signals that may be passed by NMOS passgates in accordancewith the principles of the present invention. In the arrangement shownin FIG. 1, the effect of the V_(GATE)−V_(t) limit on the signals passedby NMOS passgate 100 may be offset by applying as V_(GATE) a voltagelevel that exceeds the logic HIGH signals, V_(H), to be passed by NMOSpassgate 100. For example, if V_(H) corresponds to the positive supplyvoltage, V_(DD), then a V_(GATE) that exceeds V_(DD) would be applied toNMOS passgate 100 to turn it “ON”. In some designs, depending on theprocess being used and the voltage difference between V_(H) and thehigher V_(GATE), NMOS passgate 100 may be a high-voltage toleranttransistor, such as a thick-oxide device, in order to reliably handlethe higher V_(GATE).

For the purposes of the present invention, V_(GATE) may be a static biasvoltage or a dynamic signal. In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG.1, the higher V_(GATE) may be derived from any of a variety of sources104, such as the positive I/O supply voltage, V_(DD-I/O) (e.g., when thecore circuitry and the I/O circuitry have separate power supplies andV_(DD-I/O) is greater than V_(H)), an I/O pin (e.g., control/datasignals provided from an external source that uses signalling levelshigher than V_(H)), or a dedicated external pin on which a voltagegreater than V_(H) is applied (e.g., bias voltages, auxiliary powersupply voltages, etc.).

In other embodiments, depending on the application, the higher V_(GATE)may also be generated by any of a variety of voltage boosting/conversioncircuitry such as charge pumps and voltage converters (e.g., DC/DC,AC/DC, etc.).

Rather than increasing V_(GATE), another way to raise the V_(GATE)−V_(t)ceiling is to lower the threshold voltage, V_(t). Although transistorsmay be fabricated with threshold voltages close to zero volts (e.g.,“native” devices), there is a tradeoff between decreasing V_(t) andincreasing the leakage current during the “OFF” state. In accordancewith the principles of the present invention, it is thus preferable tolower the associated threshold voltages of those specific transistorswhich may be used as passgates.

One arrangement for accomplishing this is shown in FIG. 2, whichschematically illustrates a portion of a representative integratedcircuit device 20, in which two transistors have been fabricated withdifferent threshold voltages. As shown in FIG. 2, one of the transistors200, which is to be configured for operation as part of a circuit otherthan a passgate structure, may be fabricated with an associated V_(t)equal to V_(x), whereas the other transistor 201, which is to beconfigured for operation as a passgate, may be fabricated with anassociated V_(t) that is less than V_(x). Expanding on the arrangementshown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 shows a portion of an integrated circuit device30, which is divided into different sections 301/302/303, wherein allthe transistors within a given section have been fabricated with aspecific threshold voltage that may be different from that of thetransistors in the other sections. For example, sections 301 and 302 mayeach be a routing network with a high concentration of passgates (whichmay be used to construct, for example, interconnection switches andmultiplexers). Accordingly, the transistors in sections 301 and 302could be fabricated with a V_(t) that is lower than that of thetransistors in other sections 303.

As an alternative, or in addition, to selectively fabricating low V_(t)transistors, FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an arrangement wherein a lowerV_(t) may be achieved by controlling the bias voltage, V_(BIAS), of thewell 405 in which the NMOS passgate 400 is fabricated. For the purposesof the present invention, NMOS passgate 400 is preferably fabricated ina well 405 which is capable of being biased to a voltage that isdifferent from that which is used to bias the substrate 520. In theillustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 5, for example, a triple-wellprocess may be used to allow p-well 405 to be biased separately from thep-substrate 520, thereby allowing the V_(t) of NMOS passgate 400 to beadjusted as a function of the source-to-bulk potential difference,V_(SB), which, in the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, is dependent onV_(BIAS). The relationship between V_(t) and V_(SB) for an NMOStransistor, which should be familiar to those skilled in the art, may beexpressed as follows:

V _(t) =V _(t0)+γ[sqrt(V _(SB)+2φ_(F))−sqrt(2φ_(F))]

(wherein V_(t0) is the threshold voltage when V_(SB) is zero, γ is thebody-effect constant, and φ_(F) is a term associated with the doping ofthe well). Accordingly, the V_(t) of NMOS passgate 400 may thus belowered by creating a negative V_(SB) by setting the bias voltage,V_(BIAS), of well 405 to a level that is higher than the voltage levelpresent on the source terminal of NMOS passgate 400. For the purposes ofthe present invention, V_(BIAS) should not be high enough to forwardbias the junction between the source/drain 401/402 and the p-well 405.Accordingly, in some embodiments, V_(BIAS) may be set to a voltage thatis slightly higher than the lowest possible voltage that may be presenton the source terminal (e.g., if the lowest possible voltage that couldbe applied to the source terminal is ground, then V_(BIAS) would be setto a voltage level that is slightly above ground).

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, V_(BIAS) maybe derived from any of a variety of sources and bias generation schemes500, which may be either internal or external to the integrated circuitdevice which includes NMOS passgate 400. Such sources 500 may includeexternal pins, charge pumps, voltage references, voltage dividers,level-shifters, control/feedback circuitry, and the like. In somedesigns, V_(BIAS) may be provided as a static voltage, which may or maynot correspond to any of the supply voltages used on the integratedcircuit device. In other designs, it may be preferable to use a dynamicvoltage for V_(BIAS), which may be provided by a control circuit thatgenerates a variable V_(BIAS) that may be a function of any of a varietyof parameters, such as process variations, temperature, voltage,current, or a combination thereof. As a result, the V_(t) of NMOSpassgate 400 may be tuned in a feedback loop to achieve a low V_(t) thatoptimizes, for example, the tradeoff between lowering V_(t) andincreasing leakage current.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, thetechniques described in the foregoing, and illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, forreducing the effect of V_(t) on the V_(GATE)−V_(t) ceiling on signalspassed by NMOS passgates may be combined to achieve an even greaterreduction.

Instead of increasing V_(GATE) or modifying V_(t) in order to raise theV_(GATE)−V_(t) ceiling imposed on signals passed by single-transistorNMOS passgates, the effect of V_(t) may be eliminated by using a fullycomplementary passgate structure, such as CMOS passgate 60 shown in FIG.6. For some applications (e.g., interconnection switches, multiplexers,gating mechanisms for tristatable circuits, etc.), the use ofsingle-transistor passgates has traditionally been preferred because aCMOS passgate includes at least two transistors (NMOS transistor 600 andPMOS transistor 610), and may further include auxiliary circuitry forgenerating and/or accommodating complementary V_(GATE) signals (e.g.,inverter 620 shown in FIG. 6), thereby taking up more area and havingmore parasitic capacitance than a single-transistor passgate. Despitethe increased area and capacitance, however, the use of CMOS passgatesin those applications (e.g., interconnection switches for programmablelogic devices) where single-transistor passgates have traditionally beenused may be reasonable in view of the trend in scaling down supplyvoltages since CMOS structures scale easily and are capable of passingfull logic levels.

The above-described passgate structures 10/201/40/60 that may beconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present inventionare especially useful in integrated circuit devices, such asprogrammable logic devices, in which such passgate structures are usedas interconnection switches to allow programmable routing and switching.FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of an illustrative programmablelogic device 70 in which interconnection switches using passgatestructures that have been constructed in accordance with the principlesof the present invention may be readily used. Programmable logic device70 includes a plurality of regions of programmable logic 710 operativelydisposed in a two-dimensional array of rows and columns, and aprogrammable network of horizontal 730 and vertical 735 interconnectionconductors for conveying signals amongst the logic regions 710 andvarious I/O structures 780. In the network of interconnection conductors730/735, signals may be programmably routed via interconnection switches700, which, in some designs, may also be grouped to form multiplexers.In some embodiments, programmable logic device 70 may also include anyof a variety of functional blocks 750, such as memory structures,multiplier/accumulator blocks, arithmetic logic units, microprocessors,etc. Functional blocks 750 may be dedicated structures that areconfigured to implement a specific function, or, alternatively, they maybe user-programmable/reconfigurable structures.

FIG. 8 illustrates in greater detail how interconnection switches 700may be used in the network of interconnection conductors 730/735 toroute signals within programmable logic device 70. For the purpose ofillustrating the principles of the present invention, a signalsource/destination within programmable logic device 70 may be any of thelogic regions 710, functional blocks 750, I/O structures 780, or othercircuitry within programmable logic device 70. As schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 8, a signal may be routed from any given source toany given destination by using interconnection switches 700 to multiplexor switch signals provided on the output leads 725 of signal source710/750/780/etc. onto the network of interconnection conductors 730/735(within which interconnection switches 700 may also be used toprogrammably connect one interconnection conductor to another), fromwhich the signal may be eventually multiplexed or switched onto theinput lead 720 of signal destination 710/750/780/etc. As shown in FIG.8, the electrical characteristics of the network of 25 interconnectionconductors 730/735 may be represented as a chain of resistors 820 andcapacitors 821 a/b in a “black-box” abstraction.

Also shown in FIG. 8 is one embodiment of an interconnection switch 700that may be constructed 30 using the above-described enhanced passgatestructures in accordance with the principles of the present invention.As illustrated in FIG. 8, interconnection switch 700 may include any ofthe passgates 10/201/40/60 as the switching mechanism. In someembodiments, a pair of inverters 801 a and 801 b, along with a“half-latch” PMOS transistor 802, may also be included to providebuffering of the input and output signals.

FIG. 9 shows how an integrated circuit device 90 (e.g., a programmablelogic device) employing any of the enhanced passgate structures thathave been described in the foregoing may be used in a system 900. System900 may include one or more of the following components: variousperipheral devices 902, I/O circuitry 903, a processor 904, and a memory905. These components may be coupled together by a system bus 901 andmay be populated on a circuit board 906 which is contained in anend-user system 907.

System 900 can be used in a wide variety of applications, such ascomputer networking, data networking, instrumentation, video processing,digital signal processing, or any other application where the advantageof using programmable or reprogrammable logic is desirable. Integratedcircuit device 90, employing passgate structures that have beenconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention,may be used to perform a variety of different logic functions. Forexample, integrated circuit device 90 can be configured as a processoror controller that works in cooperation with processor 904. Integratedcircuit device 90 may also be used as an arbiter for arbitrating accessto a shared resource in system 900. In yet another example, integratedcircuit device 90 may be configured as an interface between processor904 and one of the other components in system 900.

Various technologies may be used to implement the integrated circuitdevice 90 employing passgate structures that have been constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention. Moreover, thisinvention is applicable to both one-time-only programmable andreprogrammable devices.

Thus, it is seen that enhanced passgate structures for an integratedcircuit device have been presented. One skilled in the art willappreciate that the present invention may be practiced by other than thedescribed embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustrationand not of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by theclaims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A programmable logic device, comprising: an arrayof logic blocks; a plurality of interconnect lines; and a plurality ofswitches for programmably routing logic signals between the logic blocksover the interconnect lines, wherein each switch includes a passgatetransistor, wherein the programmable logic device has low systemvoltages that are comparable to the threshold voltage of the passgatetransistor, and wherein the programmable logic device has apassgate-activating voltage that substantially exceeds the low systemvoltages.
 2. The programmable logic device of claim 1, wherein thepassgate transistor is an NMOS transistor.
 3. The programmable logicdevice of claim 1, further comprising: input/output circuitry that ispowered at the passgate-activating voltage; and core circuitry that ispowered at voltages lower than the passgate-activating voltage.
 4. Theprogrammable logic device of claim 3, wherein the passgate-activatingvoltage powering the input/output circuitry is supplied through a pin onthe programmable logic device.
 5. The programmable logic device of claim4, wherein the pin is a dedicated external pin on which thepassgate-activating voltage is provided to the programmable logicdevice.
 6. The programmable logic device of claim 1, further comprising:a plurality of pins, wherein some of the pins are input/output pins, andwherein the passgate-activating voltage is applied to at least one ofthe input/output pins as a signaling voltage.
 7. The programmable logicdevice of claim 1, wherein some of the switches form a multiplexer thatprovides multiplexed connections between the logic blocks and theinterconnect lines.
 8. The programmable logic device of claim 1, whereinsome of the switches form a multiplexer that provides multiplexedconnections between at least two of the interconnect lines.
 9. Theprogrammable logic device of claim 8, wherein the switches aresingle-transistor passgates.
 10. A digital processing system comprising:the programmable logic device of claim 1, wherein the programmable logicdevice is coupled to other integrated circuits on a printed circuitboard.
 11. A programmable logic device, comprising: an array of logicblocks including logic transistors; a plurality of interconnect lines; aplurality of switches for programmably routing logic signals between thelogic blocks over the interconnect lines, wherein the switches includepassgate transistors having threshold voltages that are substantiallylower than the threshold voltages of other transistors in theprogrammable logic device.
 12. The programmable logic device of claim11, wherein the passgate transistors are formed in a group to form amultiplexer.
 13. The programmable logic device of claim 12, wherein themultiplexer provides connections between at least two of theinterconnect lines.
 14. The programmable logic device of claim 12,wherein the multiplexer provides connections between the logic blocksand the interconnect lines.
 15. The programmable logic device of claim11, wherein the passgate transistors are grouped together to formconnections between the interconnect lines.
 16. The programmable logicdevice of claim 1, wherein the passgate transistor is a CMOS transistor.17. The programmable logic device of claim 16, wherein the CMOStransistor comprises a NMOS structure, a PMOS structure, and aninverter, all of which are coupled together.
 18. The programmable logicdevice of claim 11 wherein a passgate transistor is a semiconductortransistor comprising a gate well region and a connection for biasingthe gate well region with respect to other regions of the semiconductortransistor.
 19. The programmable logic device of claim 1, wherein thepassgate transistor is a high-voltage tolerant transistor.
 20. Theprogrammable logic device of claim 1, wherein the passgate transistor isthick gate oxide device.